


The Space Between Seconds

by moonrunes



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Gen, YoungAvengersHE2k17, coping and friendship, traumatic past mentioned but no detail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 12:30:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13271499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrunes/pseuds/moonrunes
Summary: Tommy just got back from space and his past haunts him more than ever. Luckily, he's got people to sort it out with.





	1. Hawkeye

“...and that’s basically everything that’s happened to me since the Mother invasion.” Kate let out a breath, blowing coffee steam into the face of the man across from her. “So. Teddy told me a bit ago that you and Noh were in space?”  
“Yeah, I was - Noh’s still up there but I decided to be more down-to-Earth for a bit.” Tommy tried for a smile and Kate smiled back.  
Lucky barked from his place by the table and a few of the other patrons glared at them, earning an apologetic face from Kate and a scowl from Tommy. Kate rolled her eyes and glanced at her phone, jumping up with a curse and a grimace. “Ah. Great. I forgot I had to meet a client. This is fine. Sorry, Tommy.”  
“Where and when?” Tommy asked, still reclining leisurely in his seat. Kate squinted suspiciously at him.  
“In like, five minutes, and right in front of my office. Why?”  
“You’re never going to make it in time.” The coffee shop stood still as Tommy downed the rest of his drink (he gritted his teeth - that was hot!) and zoomed to her side, grinning. “Just like old times?”  
Kate gave a short laugh. “Just remember to bring Lucky-”  
Everything around him froze again as Tommy picked her up, bridal style, running out the door and into the streets of L.A., his heartbeat the only sound in his ears. Her hair whipped at his neck and he ducked outstretched arms and jumped car hoods to set her down in front of Hawkeye Investigations before going back for the dog.   
Moving as fast as he did was always a rush, but lately, Tommy had been feeling...different. More connected, sort of, both to his past and to the people around him. Which was really weird - not good or bad, necessarily, just...weird.  
I don’t have feelings. And I don’t hold hands.  
That seemed like forever ago, now.   
Lucky’s fur was softer than Kate’s hair, so much so that Tommy buried his face in his side before putting him down carefully and leaning against the wall, letting time speed back up around him until the city sounds filled his ears.  
“-and be careful crossing - oh.” Lucky barked and Kate laughed.  
“Thanks, Speed.”  
“My pleasure. You need any help with this mystery client?”  
“Um, actually, can you stick around?” Kate leaned in closer with a conspiratorial smile and stage whispered, “It makes me look more legitimate if it looks like there’s two people and a dog under Hawkeye Investigations instead of one and a dog.”  
“Gotcha.” Tommy finger gunned at her and she finger gunned him back.  
“Good to have you back, Tommy.”  
“Good to be back.”


	2. Wiccan

“And then I said, ‘if you didn’t want to lose your cargo, then you shouldn’t’ve had it in the first place!’” Tommy laughed and time stopped again as he punched the lights out of a few henchmen in the time it took Billy to formulate a response, starting again with a sound like when one pushes the fast-forward button on a video. He dropped machine guns by the curb and wondered vaguely if there was a proper disposal service for them.

“Nice.” Teddy cracked two heads together and lined the unconscious bodies up neatly. “Sounds like those scumbags got what was coming to them.”

“I can’t believe there are still slave traders in the galaxy.” Billy grumbled, sending hexes flying like shooting stars. “I mean, you’d think that with intergalactic space travel comes more stringent laws on rights.”

“Yeah. S’okay, thought, ‘cause we’ve got Hulkling.” Tommy clapped a less-than-enthusiastic Teddy on the back and grinned in the face of his friend’s grimace. “Sounds like you’ve got a lot of work to do, Once and Future Space King.”

“Ugh, yes.” Billy cast a containment spell and wrapped his cape more tightly around his shoulders. “It’s okay, though. You’ve got help. Hey, Speed, do you know Squirrel Girl?”

Tommy traded his costume for civvies in the blink of an eye, thinking all the while. “Name doesn’t ring a bell, no. Why?”

“We met her ‘cause we were on the same Avengers team a while ago.” Billy waved a hand and his cape folded itself into a hoodie, Teddy’s vest fading into a sweater that looked very much like a gift from Kate. “And apparently, Squirrel Girl’s friends with Galactus.”

Tommy goggled at him. “Galactus.”

“Yup.”

“Planet-Eater?”

“Unless you know another Galactus.”

“Damn.” Tommy whistled. “Wonder how she pulled that off?”

“She’s a miracle worker. I mean, they don’t call her unbeatable for nothing,” Teddy said, his clothes still shimmering from the magic aftereffects - the perils, Tommy supposed, of relying on magic to change from superhero costumes to ‘normal-people-clothes.’

Someone’s phone buzzed and Tommy reflexively reached for his before Teddy claimed it, wincing. “Dang.”

“Hm?”

“Gotta go - there’s a lecture starting in a few that I don’t want to miss.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow as he came to the realization that Teddy stored his phone inside his own body (clever, okay, but a little weird) as Billy chirped, “What’s it about?”

“International relations.” He kissed Billy goodbye (as Tommy made faces at his brother) and high-fived Tommy and just like that, disappeared into the crowd.

Billy, for his part, looked very much like he was about to sigh dreamily, and Tommy rolled his eyes. “International relations? Shouldn’t he be talking to like, Black Panther, or someone?”

“I’m sure Black Panther is busy,” Billy replied absentmindedly. He shook himself back to reality and raised an eyebrow at Tommy. “Is that really all you guys did out there?”

“Hmm?”

“You and Noh. Just...vigilantism. Exactly what we do here.”

“Yeah, but in space.” Tommy mimicked his twin’s expression. “If you’re implying that we hooked up-”

“I imply nothing. All inferences are your own.” Billy grinned at him and Tommy wrinkled his nose back, though it was short-lived.

“Hey, Billiam.”

“What?”

“You heard from Mom recently?”

“Nah. Heard she was involved in the Empire thing, which was...a lot, but I think now she’s running with Rogue’s Avengers squad.” They stopped at a crosswalk and Billy frowned. “I should probably talk to her more, now that I think about it. Thanks. Also, um, can I ask why?”

“I dunno. Can you?”

His twin brother groaned and shoved him, the light across the street turning white. Tommy cackled.

“Dude. Are you even allowed to say that unless you have a teaching degree?”

“I can, I will, and I may,” Tommy said smugly, eliciting another groan from Billy. “And it’s no big deal, I just wanted to ask her about power sets and stuff. You know anything about that?”

“Maybe. Depending on what you want to ask her.” Billy stuffed his hands in his kangaroo pocket and stared off into space. “I know that secondary mutations develop sometimes and that they can be uncontrollable, and I know that sometimes power sets get drained for, like, no reason at all, and also-”

If he was being completely honest with himself (he wasn’t), Tommy would have admitted that he’d zoned out a bit, only coming back when he heard his brother say “-and sometimes, past events and experiences and emotional state can have an effect on powers-”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, yeah, Kitty told me that Rachel Grey - do you know her? - told her-”

“No no, that part with the ‘powers change based on past experiences. That’s a thing?”

“Yeah, I guess. Why?”

Tommy shrugged, looking down at his shoes (the soles were wearing out alarmingly fast, he noticed). “I dunno. Just never thought powers would be affected like that.”

“Really?” Billy made an abrupt turn into Central Park. “Weren’t you there when we were having the board game night? I’m pretty sure you were.”

“Was it that one time David and Teddy had a chess game that lasted so long everyone else went home?”

“No, no, it was the other one, the one with Kate and Cassie playing Mario Kart and Cassie got so mad at her that she started growing. You remember that, right?”

“Oh, yeah.” Tommy laughed. “I remember. But, I mean, Cassie got her powers ‘cause of Pym particles - aren’t those different?”

“Maybe.” Billy shrugged. “You might want to drop by Xavier’s. I bet the teachers there know more about power fluctuations due to emotional distress. Plus, it’s like, right there.”

“Huh?” Tommy looked to his left, marveling at the fact he hadn’t noticed it before - a group building towering over the trees of Central Park, an amalgamation of normal campus buildings and other, stranger things - one with ice spikes puncturing a roof, a few that appeared to be launch pads for flying students, and most notably, a wall in the process of being repaired.

“Huh.”

“Isn’t it wild?” Billy asked dryly. “When you walk around New York, sometimes you even go places.”

Tommy shoved him and his twin laughed. “C’mon. I think David said he would drop by today too, so maybe we’ll see him. If anyone has the answer to your questions, it’s probably him.”

“How do you know where he is?” Tommy resisted the urge to speed ahead and look around, instead pushing his hands into the pockets of his jacket, fingers running over a familiar piece of metal.

“I asked him if I was allowed to just like, drop by Xavier’s and see how everybody’s doing.” Billy dodged a football and shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I know a whole bunch of the students but I thought it would be weird if I just...came by, y’know?”

“Yeah.”

“But it’s okay! They’re pretty chill people.” Billy squinted at him. “David says he knows a speedster. You guys should form a club.”

“Are there enough speedsters to start a-” Tommy felt it before he saw her; a rush of wind and a shock of bright blue hair with electric surges running up and down shiny gauntlets like a solar storm.

“Who are you?”

“Hi, Nori.” Her face softened when she saw Billy and, looking between them, she immediately made the connection. “Oh! Didn’t know you were stopping by today, Billy - I don’t know where Headmistress Pryde is, sorry.”

“No, it’s okay, we’re just passing through. How’ve you been?” Billy seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Tommy was in a state of shock that would probably be best described as karmic.

Was that how he seemed to people? Fast, obviously, but also closed and suspicious, in one way and out the other.

No. No, that was the anxiety talking.

Or was it?

“-oh yeah! This is my twin brother, Tommy.”

What were they talking about?

“Nice to meet you, Tommy. I’m Nori.” She held out a hand and he shook it gingerly, eyeing the electricity. “Hi.”

“So, you guys are twins? Who was born first?”

“I was.” Billy sighed, dropping his forehead into his hand and Tommy grinned. “Definitely me. I am the faster twin, after all.”  
Nori laughed. “If I raced you, I bet I’d win.”  
“No chance. I beat Quicksilver.”

“He was carrying me at the time,” Billy reminded him, but Tommy shrugged it off. “Race me. Let’s go.”

“Please don’t.” David appeared out of nowhere, it seemed, sporting a yellow coat and an exasperated expression. “Nori, please help me.”  
“With?”

“All three Cuckoo sisters dyed their hair so they look more different than they ever have and for everything else I know, I still can’t remember the differences.”

“Phoebe has red hair. Mindee has black hair. Celeste stayed blonde.”

“Surprised that they didn’t decide to go for wilder colors.”

Nori snorted. “We’re talking about the same people, right?”

“Right.” David smiled at the twins. “Nice to see you. Didn’t know you were stopping by.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Do they tell you guys to say that in the classes here?”

“No. We just all agreed to say it to you.” David shared a conspiratorial grin with Tommy and held out his hand for a fist bump. “Nice to see you. How was space?”

“How does everyone know I’ve been in space?” Tommy accepted the proffered fist bump and looked questioningly between the other three. “Seriously, Billy, how long is your gossip chain?”

“Very.” His brother grinned. “Speaking of, Nori, do you know where I can find Anole?”  
“He’s in the common room. Pixie’s getting him into Overwatch.”

“She is?” Billy’s eyes lit up (literally. Tommy saw a spark of magic behind it) and he darted off, almost as fast as Tommy himself, shouting goodbyes behind him and leaving a wisp of magic in the air behind him.

“Heh.” David watched him go with the sort of smile on his face that said these idiots are my friends and I care about them a lot but they can be kind of dumb sometimes, though quite a bit more eloquently than Tommy could put it. “So, Tommy, what brings you to Xavier’s?”

“We were in the area.”

“Sure you were.” Nori rolled her eyes. “No one’s ever in the area. C’mon. Spill.”

“I was wondering what you knew about power sets and like, past experiences.”

David frowned, the crease between his eyebrows speaking of past experiences that no one should have to carry, least of all some guy barely old enough to start college (though smart enough to pass it by). “A little. Why?”

“Curious.”

“Uh huh.”

“No, really.”

“Yeah, and I’m the Wolverine.”

“You are?” Tommy gasped and stumbled back, slapping his chest in an imitation of a housewife from the ‘50s who had just been told that Captain America might still be alive. “David. You never told me that. All those times we got coffee and noodles and you never-”

David threw up his hands. “Seriously, Tommy, if you’re getting concussions because of your ability, you should speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“I feel like his concussions wouldn’t be a direct result of his ability, though,” Nori chipped in. “Maybe if you ran into enough walls or something.”  
“I’m not getting concussions.” Tommy kicked at the gravel path, smile falling off his face. “Just - the juvie center. Been thinking about that a ton.”

“Oh.”

Nori dropped her smile, and Tommy was sad to see it go - without it, she seemed so much further away, like a comet tracing tails across a distant galaxy. David, too, now looked worried instead of thoughtful - Tommy could practically see the gears whirring in his head and, not for the first time, thought about how grateful he was that David’s big brain was on his side instead of against him.

“I mean, it was never fully revealed what happened in there-”

Tommy snorted.

“-because you won’t talk about it-”

“If you want I bet Husk could fit you in her schedule somewhere.” Nori’s expression had changed to concern, an odd expression for someone he’d just met.

“-but I think that, all things considered, as long as you just talk about problems with people you trust and acknowledging your feelings and limits - which I know you have problems with-” David pointed an accusatory finger at Tommy and the latter looked behind him in mock confusion.

“Moi?”

David sighed. “As long as you don’t obsessively dwell on the events, talk about your problems with people you trust, and acknowledging your feelings and limits. That’s a pretty good recovery package.”  
“Great!” Tommy could feel that his smile was too big but he brushed it off, giving David a quick hug and pulling finger guns at Nori before darting away, shouting over his shoulder, “Tell Billy I went home!”


	3. A Marvelous Chance Encounter

The run back to his apartment didn’t take very long, in terms of seconds, but for Tommy, it lasted much longer than it should’ve, his overactive mind fixating on what David had said and dissecting it, twisting meanings around and around and-  
“Aaahh!”  
Tommy blinked. Huh. The sky was such a deep blue that it looked like he could just fall up…  
He sat up and shook his head. Look where you’re going next time, Tommy.   
“Sorry!” A girl offered him a hand and he took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. “I didn’t see you there.”  
“S’okay.” Tommy rubbed his head and smiled. “My fault. I should’ve looked where I was going. Speedster and all.” He looked closer, squinting. “Hey, you’re that new hero from Jersey, right? Ms. Marvel?”  
“Yeah.” Now she looked wary, like he was going to tell her off, and Tommy mentally kicked himself. Gee, way to make the kid scared.  
“I heard about you and honestly? You’re doing great.” He held out a hand for her to shake and she grinned, taking it. “I’m Speed. I guess we were kind of your predecessors on the whole ‘the Avengers aren’t doing anything so I guess we’ll have to’ thing.”  
“That’s right!” She gasped in a way that might be described as comical if it wasn’t so genuine. “You were on the Young Avengers! I knew I recognized you!”  
“Ah, my reputation precedes me.” Tommy bowed and she laughed.   
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound weird or anything, I just - you guys - you were heroes.” She looked a bit put out by this confession, twisting her hands together and scuffing her shoes on the pavement. “I mean, we - the Champions, I mean - we’re trying to do well but like-”  
“You feel like you’ll never measure up to those you take your legacies from,” he supplied, and she looked up.   
“Yeah, yeah, that, exactly that!” Ms. Marvel laughed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I usually don’t just dump my feelings of inadequacy on people I just met.”  
“No sweat. Besides, from what I’ve seen? You guys are way more put together than we were at that age.” Tommy put his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her earnestly. “The most important part of being a hero isn’t the recognition, or what the public thinks of you, or whatever. It’s doing what you think is right with the people it feels right with. And even if bad things happen, it doesn’t mean it’s the end.”  
She smiled and he went on, wondering in the back of his mind if he was talking to himself or to her. “Being a hero means that you don’t give up. Never. Even if there is no happy endings, or guarantees, or people calling your name. If you have that, you have what it takes to be a hero.”  
They stood in silence for a second, the words loading in Tommy’s mind with a side of Wow, that was so deep. Damn, me, before Ms. Marvel hugged him tightly.  
“Thanks. I needed that.”  
“No problem.” Tommy grunted - wow, she was so much stronger than he’d expected! - and laughed. “You’re on the forums, right?”  
“Yeah, of course.”  
“Friend me. And my brother. I guess.”  
Ms. Marvel stepped back and gave a shaky laugh. “Yeah, I will. Thanks again, Speed.”  
“Not a - hey.” Tommy frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “The Avengers. They gave you guys training, right?”  
“A little bit. Well, for Spidey, Nova, and I, but I’m not sure about-”  
“Yup, okay, that’s it.” Tommy clapped his hands together and Ms. Marvel’s mask wrinkled in confusion.  
“What’s it?”  
“I’m going to train you guys so that none of you get hurt. You okay with that?”  
“I’ll have to ask the rest of the team.” Ms. Marvel smiled again and Tommy prayed to whatever God existed that she would keep the faith and hope in her eyes for as long as she could. It had been too long since he’d seen something like that - even Cassie’d had a sort of world-weariness about her when he’d gone to visit.  
“We’re supposed to be meeting at the Olympus Compound tomorrow - it’s in Texas, though-”  
“Chill. I’m a speedster. I’ll be there.” Tommy smiled. “Oh, and Ms. Marvel?”  
“Hm?”  
“Thank you.”


	4. The Scarlet Witch

_As long as you don’t obsessively dwell on the events, talk about your problems with people you trust, and acknowledging your feelings and limits. _  
The words bounced around in Tommy’s head like a game of pinball - as soon as one looked like it was about to drop, a new thought would kick in and it would start all over again.  
Talk about your problems with people you trust.  
Who would that be, exactly? His sort-of technically-soul-twin brother? His old team, his friends, his family? His soul-mother?   
Definitely not his uncle, that was for sure.  
He bounced on the balls of his feet in the middle of his apartment, connecting dots before he sighed and was out the door in the time it took a star to explode.   
Avengers Mansion was no longer the wreck that Teddy described it as being in the early days of the Young Avengers, rather, it was shiny and new, with the shiny new team practicing in front, taking advantage of the sunny day, it seemed. She stood out amongst them, having picked a bench by herself and, against the waxy green of the flowers, her red and black ensemble stood out more than ever.  
“Hi, Mom.”  
Wanda opened her eyes, turning her face away from the sun, confusion painting her face until it was replaced by joy. “Tommy!”   
He was tall enough to rest his chin on her shoulder, now, but he reveled in the feeling of his mother with him, the sun on his back and the ground beneath his feet.   
She pulled back, inspecting him with an eagle eye. “How have you been?”  
“Okay, I guess. Went to space.” He sat down next to her and she turned to face him attentively.  
“And how was space?”  
“Um. Big.”  
Wanda laughed. “I would expect so. Anything other than big?”  
“Colorful. Like those paint mixing videos.”  
She tilted her head to the side. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I think I get it.”  
They fell into silence for a few minutes, watching Rogue teach Synapse how to...do something. Tommy wasn’t sure what, but it involved a lot of shouting and kicking at a manikin that someone had helpfully set up. His questions sat at the tip of his tongue, on the verge of being spoken but even so, he was loath to break the comfortable silence between them.  
He sighed, and Wanda looked over at him. “Are you okay?”  
Tommy gestured uselessly with his hands for a few seconds, trying to give life to his thoughts, before giving up and shrugging helplessly. “Do you - do you ever feel like what happened to you before is holding you back from doing things now?”  
“What people did to me or what I did to them?”  
“Both.”  
“Hmm.” Wanda turned her face towards the sun again, like a flower seeking life. “My past is my past. I may never make up for what I have done, just as others may never be able - or want to - apologize for what they’ve done to me.”  
“And?”  
“And nothing.” Wanda looked at him again and there was such serenity in her eyes that Tommy felt it in himself, too - sinking into his bones and grounding him. “I am the Scarlet Witch. I am enough as I am, though I always try to be better, and I deserve better.”  
“Oh.” Tommy nodded and she laughed.   
“What I mean is that we can’t control everything everyone else does. All we can do is try to be better, sometimes in spite of everything they throw at people like us.”  
“Oh, okay. That - that makes more sense.” Tommy smiled and she hugged him again.   
“Just try and be better. It’s not easy - it never is - but it’s always worth it.”__


	5. Stars

The stars above him were so bright Tommy felt like he could reach out and touch them.  
His apartment wasn’t great, but at least the landlady didn’t mind if he came out onto the roof some nights. He held up a hand and traced constellations with his hand, mapping planets in his mind. By now, Noh would be somewhere around Aquarius, finding his way - where had he been going?  
Tommy sighed and let his hand drop back down. He’d missed being on Earth so much he’d never expected to feel so….slow now that he was back.  
His phone buzzed and he waited for a second before sitting up with a grunt, pawing for it somewhere around the blanket he’d brought up.  
1 new text from NOODLEFRIEND  
Huh. From David.  
"Our home may never be the place we dream of. The past is a burden we may never set down. And though each new day adds a new stone to that pile, perhaps that means we carry all we need...to build the road ahead.” - Ororo Munroe  
Tommy raised his eyebrows.  
Huh.  
He flopped back onto his blanket and looked harder at the stars. He’d never understood everyone else when they talked about the stars talking to them or being personified or whatever, but now, it felt like acceptance, both from him and from them.  
He smiled. There was only the road ahead, and for him, the space between seconds within which to travel.


End file.
